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Activists
ing 10
election
Some decisions
to be made
next month
by Lou Chibbiro Jr.
Gay activists say they are both excited-and
hesitant about a "series of meetings
scheduled for the weekend of February 4-
in_Washington, where key decisions are
expected to be mad - on how days will
participate in the 1984 presidential
elections. -
Similar to supporters for the six
undeclared candidates for the Demo-cratic
presidential nomination, Gays
involved with the Democratic Party have
already begun a lively debate over which
Gay organization should spearhead
efforts to elect Gay de.legatesto;*&944DeekratiersittrcarMvelition an
who should lead the effort.
The debate will likely tome to a head
at the Sheraton: Washington Hotel,
February 4-5, when the 14-Member
executive committee of the National
Association of Gay and Lesbian Demo-
- crane Clubs is scheduled-to meet.
Also meeting at the hotel the same
weekend is the Democratic National
- Committee, the governing body of the
Democratic Party, which is expected to
vote on whether or not to accept a Gay
caucus as an official structure within the
party-
Debate - over Gay involvement in the
1984 presidential lace centers around the
question ofiathether the Naticmal-Associ-ation
of Gay and Lesbian Democratic
Clubs or some other-non-partisan group, -
. perhaps modelled On the 1980 National
Convention Project, shouki trke on the
primary responsibility for stimulating
involvement in theelection from the Gay
commtmity.
- The convention project, created in
early 1980 by the Gay Rights National
Lobby, the National Gay Task Force
and the National Coalition of Black
Gays, involved itself in both the Repub-lican
and Democratic Party conventions.
The organization's efforts- in providing
logistical support for local Gay groups
seeidng to elect openly Gay delegates to
the -conventions was hailed as a major
- success by most Gay rights leaders as
well as. by politicians.
Of particular importance, according to
Gay Ilancicnits, was the election of some
80 openly Gay delegates, alternates, or
party committee members to the 1980
Democratic convention in New York
and the approval by the party of a Gay
rights plank in the official platform.
The national association, formed in
Philadelphia last June, was an outgrowth
of the 1980 ,effort, -according to its
Continued on page 12
" .50$ Outside of D.C./Baltimore Areas
- :THE GAY WEEKLY OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL
Ike a knight stripped of a II
AIDS: mystery illness leaves its victims—most of
them urban Gay men virtually defenseless
by Margot Joan. Fromer
First in a series
This "disease" that has afflicted more
than 800 people since it was first noted in
1979 can't accurately be called a disease.
No one knows what causes it, althon.h
the prime suspect is a virus. What we do
know is that the number of cases
reported has doubled every six months
since the second half of 1979, that 40
percent of those who have contracted it
already have died, and that it probably
will kill 80 percent of its victims. Those
who survive this non-disease never frilly
recover their former robust health, so
one could say that it claims 100 percent
of its victims. It's a true medical mystery,
a plague really, and its victims are
primarily male homosexuals.
Acquired immune deficiency syn-drome
(AIDS) is anew syndrome; it did
not exist prior to 1979 or 1980. Immune
deficiency means that the body's -im-mune
system its major line of defense
against attacking microorganisms and
malignancies, is not ftmctioning at fun
capacity. An acquired deficiency is one
that is-scaused by an outside factor that
enters the body; that is, one is not born
with it.
The immune system- is incredibly
complex and still poorly understood, but
it is known that among its major
•comporients are those white blood cells
known as lymphocytes, esPeciallY those
called. T lymphocytes, or T cells. Two
types of T cells are particularlyimportant
in the immune. system. Helper T rt-Its
promote the immune icsponse. Suppres-sor
T cells reduce it. Normally, people
have about twice as many helper mils as
suppressor rAls, but in AIDS victims
that ratio is reversed. No one knows why
ibis should be so, but there is strong
reason to believe that viruses are
implicated in the development of this
immunodeficiency, also: called immuno-
• suppression.
Whatever causes the helper T cells to
be depressed or destroyed, the body's
entire immune system is affected, and a
person in the state of irnmrmosuppres-sion
becomes vulnerable to many patho-gens
(disease-producing organisms). He
or she is Itle a medieval knight being
suddenly stripped of armor in the thick
of battle.
Most acquired immunosuppress ion
has a known cause for instance the
aftereffect of drugs given to kill cancer
riAls or to prevent the rejection of a
newly transplanted organ. But there is no
precedent for it appearing in a large
number of formerly healthy young men
for no apparent reason. This sudden
descent from blooming health to over-whelming
illness is a true medical
mystery. To make matters worse, of all
the thousands of known cases of AIDS
in the United States and Europe, not one
of the survivors has ever recovered from
the immtmosuppression. The person is
then left with perpetually limited de-fenses
against any number of oppor-tunistic
infections and malignancies,
such as Kaposi's sarcoma.
According to Dr. Abraham Macher, a
researcher in the Department of Clinical
or'
Pathology at the Clinical Center of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), no
one knows what causes AIDS, but he
says there are clues: "We believe the true
etiology [cause] of the syndrome is
probably a virus, either a known virus, or
maybe a new one."
One seep= is cymmegalovirus (CMV).
In fact, according to Dr. Lawrence T.
Hill, Associate Director of Radiation
Medicine at Georgetown University and
a consultant to the World Health
Organization (WHO), "C../ViV does lead
to suppression of the immune system,
although the CX2Ct inpriumism, is not
(-ter." However, CMV has been around
for thousands of years without these
devastating effects; thus, the compelling
questions become: Why now? Why are
Gay men the hardest hit?
One clue Intght be the filet that CMV
is endemic (always existing) in 94
percent of the Gay male population,
whereas the virus is found in the general
population at a rate of 20 to SO percent.
In general, people with a lower socio-economic
status have a high incidence of
CMV. Such people have poorer nutri-tion,
poorer hygiene, and a lower level of
general health than do people at bieler
socioeconomic levels. But homosexualky
cuts across class lities, and AIDS does
not seem to make class distinctions.
It is possible the higher level of CMV
among Gay men could have something
to do with the lifestyle that Dr. Hill and
others characterize as "life in the fast
lane": sexual promiscuity, poor nutri-
Continued on page 22

Activists
ing 10
election
Some decisions
to be made
next month
by Lou Chibbiro Jr.
Gay activists say they are both excited-and
hesitant about a "series of meetings
scheduled for the weekend of February 4-
in_Washington, where key decisions are
expected to be mad - on how days will
participate in the 1984 presidential
elections. -
Similar to supporters for the six
undeclared candidates for the Demo-cratic
presidential nomination, Gays
involved with the Democratic Party have
already begun a lively debate over which
Gay organization should spearhead
efforts to elect Gay de.legatesto;*&944DeekratiersittrcarMvelition an
who should lead the effort.
The debate will likely tome to a head
at the Sheraton: Washington Hotel,
February 4-5, when the 14-Member
executive committee of the National
Association of Gay and Lesbian Demo-
- crane Clubs is scheduled-to meet.
Also meeting at the hotel the same
weekend is the Democratic National
- Committee, the governing body of the
Democratic Party, which is expected to
vote on whether or not to accept a Gay
caucus as an official structure within the
party-
Debate - over Gay involvement in the
1984 presidential lace centers around the
question ofiathether the Naticmal-Associ-ation
of Gay and Lesbian Democratic
Clubs or some other-non-partisan group, -
. perhaps modelled On the 1980 National
Convention Project, shouki trke on the
primary responsibility for stimulating
involvement in theelection from the Gay
commtmity.
- The convention project, created in
early 1980 by the Gay Rights National
Lobby, the National Gay Task Force
and the National Coalition of Black
Gays, involved itself in both the Repub-lican
and Democratic Party conventions.
The organization's efforts- in providing
logistical support for local Gay groups
seeidng to elect openly Gay delegates to
the -conventions was hailed as a major
- success by most Gay rights leaders as
well as. by politicians.
Of particular importance, according to
Gay Ilancicnits, was the election of some
80 openly Gay delegates, alternates, or
party committee members to the 1980
Democratic convention in New York
and the approval by the party of a Gay
rights plank in the official platform.
The national association, formed in
Philadelphia last June, was an outgrowth
of the 1980 ,effort, -according to its
Continued on page 12
" .50$ Outside of D.C./Baltimore Areas
- :THE GAY WEEKLY OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL
Ike a knight stripped of a II
AIDS: mystery illness leaves its victims—most of
them urban Gay men virtually defenseless
by Margot Joan. Fromer
First in a series
This "disease" that has afflicted more
than 800 people since it was first noted in
1979 can't accurately be called a disease.
No one knows what causes it, althon.h
the prime suspect is a virus. What we do
know is that the number of cases
reported has doubled every six months
since the second half of 1979, that 40
percent of those who have contracted it
already have died, and that it probably
will kill 80 percent of its victims. Those
who survive this non-disease never frilly
recover their former robust health, so
one could say that it claims 100 percent
of its victims. It's a true medical mystery,
a plague really, and its victims are
primarily male homosexuals.
Acquired immune deficiency syn-drome
(AIDS) is anew syndrome; it did
not exist prior to 1979 or 1980. Immune
deficiency means that the body's -im-mune
system its major line of defense
against attacking microorganisms and
malignancies, is not ftmctioning at fun
capacity. An acquired deficiency is one
that is-scaused by an outside factor that
enters the body; that is, one is not born
with it.
The immune system- is incredibly
complex and still poorly understood, but
it is known that among its major
•comporients are those white blood cells
known as lymphocytes, esPeciallY those
called. T lymphocytes, or T cells. Two
types of T cells are particularlyimportant
in the immune. system. Helper T rt-Its
promote the immune icsponse. Suppres-sor
T cells reduce it. Normally, people
have about twice as many helper mils as
suppressor rAls, but in AIDS victims
that ratio is reversed. No one knows why
ibis should be so, but there is strong
reason to believe that viruses are
implicated in the development of this
immunodeficiency, also: called immuno-
• suppression.
Whatever causes the helper T cells to
be depressed or destroyed, the body's
entire immune system is affected, and a
person in the state of irnmrmosuppres-sion
becomes vulnerable to many patho-gens
(disease-producing organisms). He
or she is Itle a medieval knight being
suddenly stripped of armor in the thick
of battle.
Most acquired immunosuppress ion
has a known cause for instance the
aftereffect of drugs given to kill cancer
riAls or to prevent the rejection of a
newly transplanted organ. But there is no
precedent for it appearing in a large
number of formerly healthy young men
for no apparent reason. This sudden
descent from blooming health to over-whelming
illness is a true medical
mystery. To make matters worse, of all
the thousands of known cases of AIDS
in the United States and Europe, not one
of the survivors has ever recovered from
the immtmosuppression. The person is
then left with perpetually limited de-fenses
against any number of oppor-tunistic
infections and malignancies,
such as Kaposi's sarcoma.
According to Dr. Abraham Macher, a
researcher in the Department of Clinical
or'
Pathology at the Clinical Center of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), no
one knows what causes AIDS, but he
says there are clues: "We believe the true
etiology [cause] of the syndrome is
probably a virus, either a known virus, or
maybe a new one."
One seep= is cymmegalovirus (CMV).
In fact, according to Dr. Lawrence T.
Hill, Associate Director of Radiation
Medicine at Georgetown University and
a consultant to the World Health
Organization (WHO), "C../ViV does lead
to suppression of the immune system,
although the CX2Ct inpriumism, is not
(-ter." However, CMV has been around
for thousands of years without these
devastating effects; thus, the compelling
questions become: Why now? Why are
Gay men the hardest hit?
One clue Intght be the filet that CMV
is endemic (always existing) in 94
percent of the Gay male population,
whereas the virus is found in the general
population at a rate of 20 to SO percent.
In general, people with a lower socio-economic
status have a high incidence of
CMV. Such people have poorer nutri-tion,
poorer hygiene, and a lower level of
general health than do people at bieler
socioeconomic levels. But homosexualky
cuts across class lities, and AIDS does
not seem to make class distinctions.
It is possible the higher level of CMV
among Gay men could have something
to do with the lifestyle that Dr. Hill and
others characterize as "life in the fast
lane": sexual promiscuity, poor nutri-
Continued on page 22